“Shareef O’Neal is Giannis Antetokounmpo with a jump shot”: Shaquille O’Neal sets highest of ceilings for his son while the UCLA and LSU forward searches his 3rd college

Shaquille O’Neal throws massive praise on his son, believes the 22-year-old has Giannis Antetokounmpo in him, and more.

It’s almost all the parents in the world who see every achievement of their kid in a much more magnified form as compared to anyone else’s bigger achievements, even their own.

When it comes to Shaquille O’Neal you’d expect no cap from the not-so-humble giant who is always on top of current NBA players for not playing their best any given night. That’s his gig at the TNT show, Inside the NBA.

But it seems the Big Aristotle is the same as any other father who considers their kid the best in the world. But when does Shaq stop where everyone else does. The 3x Finals MVP believes his son is as good as the 2021 Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and better.

Also read: “Shaquille O’Neal refuses to acknowledge Dwight Howard is a Hall-of-Famer”: The Diesel continues to throw shade on Lakers Big Man’s legacy

Shaquille O’Neal believes Shareef is Giannis Antetokounmpo with shooting skills

On a recent TNT episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, it seemed as if senior O’Neal got carried away talking about his son, much like he does while talking about anything else in the world.

“What people don’t know is — I know, I have a Giannis with a jump shot,” O’Neal said about his son. “That’s how I raised him. I have a Giannis Antetokounmpo with a jump shot, but people don’t know. So, hopefully, he gets to go to a place where he can showcase his talent, so people can see who he really is.”

Now we’ve got to understand that Shareef, a 6’10 forward, is currently looking for his third school in the NCAA transfer portal, not averaging more than 3 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.1 assists. Whereas Antetokounmpo has more individual as well as team honors in the NBA than those numbers combined.

The pressure Shareef O’Neal is now on

The Greek Freak is playing professional basketball since he was 17, so we do not have his college basketball record to compare with Shareef. One of the youngest players to play an NBA game, 18-year-old Giannis was averaging more than twice of what 22-year-old junior O’Neal is averaging in college. That too against the world’s best players.

At 27, Giannis is on the path to challenging Shaq’s position as the most dominant player of all time, and maybe also the GOATs of the game. Already having some individual accolades that even Shaq missed out on – regular-season MVPs and Defensive Player of the Year awards, Giannis might pass the Diesel quite well before his retirement.

We would say Shaq didn’t do right by his son to put such enormous pressure on his shoulders, but we wouldn’t. Because those shoulders are inherited from NBA’s original Superman, we prefer not to doubt their ability.

Also read: “I hit Shaquille O’Neal in the gut because I can’t reach his big head”: Charles Barkley claimed victory over the Big Diesel during their infamous brawl in 1999